Effects of Mental Health Support on the Grief of Bereaved People Caused by Sewol Ferry Accident

Few studies have assessed the overall effects of multi-centered, complicated mental health support on the grief process. This study investigated the broader influence of mental health support provided practically to the bereaved family on the severity of complicated grief. Ninety-three bereaved family members of the Sewol ferry accident were recruited. Severity of complicated grief, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive disorder was assessed through self-reporting questionnaire, inventory of complicated grief (ICG), PTSD Check List-5 (PCL-5) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). We also included demographic, socioeconomic, health-related variables, and Functional Social Support Questionnaire (FSSQ), which affect the ICG score. Participants were divided into 4 groups based on the experience of psychotherapy or psychiatry clinic service before the accident and mental health support after the disaster. In univariate analysis, these 4 groups showed a significant difference in the mean ICG score (P=0.020). Participants who received mental health support only after the Sewol ferry accident (group 2) showed a lower mean ICG score than those who received neither psychotherapy or psychiatry clinic service before the disaster nor mental health support after the accident (group 4). There was no significant correlation between the ICG score and other variables except for subjective health status measured 1 month after the disaster (P=0.005). There was no significant difference in PCL-5 (P=0.140) and PHQ-9 scores (P=0.603) among groups, respectively. In conclusion, mental health support significantly reduced the severity of grief only in those participants who had not received any psychotherapy or psychiatry clinic service before the accident

Influence of the 5-HT3A Receptor Gene Polymorphism and Childhood Sexual Trauma on Central Serotonin Activity.

Gene-environment interactions are important for understanding alterations in human brain function. The loudness dependence of auditory evoked potential (LDAEP) is known to reflect central serotonergic activity. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 5-HT3A serotonin receptor gene are associated with psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to investigate the effect between 5-HT3A receptor gene polymorphisms and childhood sexual trauma on the LDAEP as an electrophysiological marker in healthy subjects.A total of 206 healthy subjects were recruited and evaluated using the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ) and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). Peak-to-peak N1/P2 was measured at five stimulus intensities, and the LDAEP was calculated as the linear-regression slope. In addition, the rs1062613 SNPs of 5-HT3A (CC, CT, and TT) were analyzed in healthy subjects.There was a significant interaction between scores on the CTQ-sexual abuse subscale and 5-HT3A genotype on the LDAEP. Subjects with the CC polymorphism had a significantly higher LDEAP than T carriers in the sexually abused group. In addition, CC genotype subjects in the sexually abused group showed a significantly higher LDAEP compared with CC genotype subjects in the non-sexually abused group.Our findings suggest that people with the CC polymorphism of the 5-HT3A gene have a greater risk of developing mental health problems if they have experienced childhood sexual abuse, possibly due to low central serotonin activity. Conversely, the T polymorphism may be protective against any central serotonergic changes following childhood sexual trauma

Childhood trauma and adult interpersonal relationship problems in patients with depression and anxiety disorders

Introduction: Although a plethora of studies have delineated the relationship between childhood trauma and onset, symptom severity, and course of depression and anxiety disorders, there has been little evidence that childhood trauma may lead to interpersonal problems among adult patients with depression and anxiety disorders. Given the lack of prior research in this area, we aimed to investigate characteristics of interpersonal problems in adult patients who had suffered various types of abuse and neglect in childhood. Methods: A total of 325 outpatients diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorders completed questionnaires on socio-demographic variables, different forms of childhood trauma, and current interpersonal problems. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was used to measure five different forms of childhood trauma (emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical abuse, physical neglect, and sexual abuse) and the short form of the Korean-Inventory of Interpersonal Problems Circumplex Scale (KIIP-SC) was used to assess current interpersonal problems. We dichotomized patients into two groups (abused and non-abused groups) based on CTQ score and investigated the relationship of five different types of childhood trauma and interpersonal problems in adult patients with depression and anxiety disorders using multiple regression analysis. Result: Different types of childhood abuse and neglect appeared to have a significant influence on distinct symptom dimensions such as depression, state-trait anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity. In the final regression model, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, and sexual abuse during childhood were significantly associated with general interpersonal distress and several specific areas of interpersonal problems in adulthood. No association was found between childhood physical neglect and current general interpersonal distress. Conclusion: Childhood emotional trauma has more influence on interpersonal problems in adult patients with depression and anxiety disorders than childhood physical trauma. A history of childhood physical abuse is related to dominant interpersonal patterns rather than submissive interpersonal patterns in adulthood. These findings provide preliminary evidence that childhood trauma might substantially contribute to interpersonal problems in adulthood

Attachment styles, grief responses, and the moderating role of coping strategies in parents bereaved by the Sewol ferry accident

Background: Previous studies on the influence of different types of attachment on grief responses have yielded contradictory outcomes. Little research has been conducted to identify the psychological processes that moderate the relationship between attachment representations and patterns of grief in disaster-related grief. Objective: The present study examines the effects of different attachment types on the grief responses of parents bereaved by loss of a child in a ferry accident, along with the moderating role of coping strategies. Methods: Bereaved parents (n = 81) completed self-report questionnaires evaluating attachment, coping strategies, complicated grief, and shame/guilt. We performed correlational analyses to examine the associations among variables. We also conducted hierarchical regression analyses and simple slope analyses to examine the moderation effects of coping strategies. Results: Anxious attachment was associated with severe shame/guilt, and avoidant attachment correlated with complicated grief. Anxious attachment was positively associated with all types of coping strategies, and avoidant attachment was negatively related to problem- and emotion-focused coping. The use of problem-focused coping strategies was a significant moderator of the relationship between the avoidant attachment dimension and shame/guilt. Avoidant attachment had a significant effect on shame/guilt in groups with a high level of problem-focused coping. In contrast, none of the coping strategies significantly moderated the relationship between anxious attachment and grief response. Conclusions: The results suggest that people with highly avoidant attachment might be overwhelmed by shame and guilt when they try to use problem-focused coping strategies. This finding suggests that grief interventions should be organized with consideration of individual differences in attachment representations

Effect of ischemic neuronal insults on amyloid precursor protein processing

The nature of the association between ischemic stroke and Alzheimer's disease (AD) at the cellular and molecular level is still unknown. We evaluated the effect of ischemic neuronal insults on the regulation of amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing. We used an in vitro model of cerebral ischemia (oxygen-glucose deprivation) to evaluate the effect of ischemic neuronal insults on the amyloidogenic and non-amyloidogenic pathways using human neuroblastoma cell line and primary cultured cells of transgenic mice which expressed human APP (Tg2576). Ischemic neuronal insults increased the production of Abeta in Tg2576 primary culture cells compared to controls. A disintegrin and metalloprotease 10 (ADAM 10) was markedly increased in early stage of ischemic insults, which was followed by decreased level of ADAM 10 expression in later stage. The protein and mRNA expression of beta-site cleavage enzyme (BACE) and BACE activity was not significantly different between the group of ischemic insults and control. By contrast, the activity of gamma-secretase was significantly increased after 4 h of ischemic insults, as compared to controls. The present study showed that the ischemic neuronal insults increased the production of Abeta by influencing APP metabolism, which may link the role of ischemic insults to the pathogenesis of AD

Results of univariate comparison of averaged LDAEP values between T carriers and CC genotype of the 5-HTR3A gene in people with CSA (A). With and without CSA among CC genotype subjects (B).

<p>Covariates were gender and age.</p

The effect of the interaction between CSA and 5-HTR3A gene polymorphism on averaged LDAEP.

<p>The effect of the interaction between CSA and 5-HTR3A gene polymorphism on averaged LDAEP.</p